Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look atDragon Statue Trap: Lesser Trapfrom the Dungeons and Dragons: Tomb of Annihilation set.

Ruling – Using Action Dice

Dragon Statue Trap is a non-Basic Action Card and it’s dice are non-Basic Action Dice. If an ability or game text refers to an Action Card or an Action Die, then it could affect Dragon Statue Trap. Non-Basic Action Dice can not be purchased by an opposing player.

There are two main ways to use an action die. The first is when the die is in your Reserve Pool, you use the ability that’s on the card and then place the die Out of Play. The die will never enter the Field Zone. The second is to move the action die from the Reserve Pool to the Field Zone, but those dice can only be fielded if they have the Continuous keyword, they’re considered to be Gear or a Trap, or the ability tells you to attach that die to another die that’s in the Field Zone.

Action dice can be used during two different steps, but only on our turn. You can use an action die at any time during your Main Step, or after blockers have been assigned during the Attack Step (referred to as the Actions and Globals portion of the Attack Step).

Action dice cannot be used for no effect. This means, if you can’t legally use the ability of the action die, then you can’t use the die and it remains in your Reserve Pool until the end of your turn. If you do not use an action die, it will go into your Used Pile at the end of your turn.

Ruling – Trap Keyword

“Traps: Traps are action dice that move to the Field Zone when used, and stay there until Triggered. When the criteria of the Trap die’s Trigger is met, you must immediately send the die to your Used Pile and use its Effect.“

Each Trap has its own Trigger and Effect. A Trap is sent directly to the Used Pile when it’s triggered, and this is not optional. Once the trigger condition is met, the trap will go to the Used Pile, whether you can use the effect or not.

The Gadgeteer keyword works with Traps.

Ruling – Trigger

“Trigger: An opponent attacks you.”

The Trigger is a condition that must be met for the trap to activate. As soon as the condition is met, the trap will ‘trigger’ and go to the Used Pile. You can use the effect of the trap only when it’s triggered.

For Dragon Statue Trap, the Trigger is when an opponent attacks you. The moment an opponent finishes assigning their attackers, the Dragon Statue Trap’s trigger is met. Character dice that are attacking are all assigned at the same time, so your opponent will be able to assign all character dice they wish to attack with before your trap triggers. This means all of your opponent’s ‘When Attacks’ abilities will be able to trigger before your Dragon Statue Trap triggers. This is because they are the active player and all active player abilities trigger first.

The trigger on Dragon Statue Trap will grant you the effect before blockers are assigned.

Ruling – Effect

“Effect: You may pay X [Energy] to deal X damage to all opposing character die.”

~ I believe there is a typo on the card. Where it says ‘opposing character die‘, I believe it’s supposed to say, ‘opposing character dice‘ instead.

The Effect of a trap is what happens when the Trigger condition is met. The Effect on Dragon Statue Trap is an optional ability because it says ‘you may’.

If you choose to use the effect on your triggered Dragon Statue Trap, you can pay any amount of energy to deal that much damage to all of your opponent’s character dice. You can use any type of energy in any combination for this effect.

The opposing character dice do not need to be attacking, only active in the Field Zone.

If attacking character dice are KO’d by this effect, they are no longer attacking and you will not be able to assign blockers to them.

This effect is not a targeting effect. Characters that are protected from being targeted can be damaged by this effect.

Example

Game State
I have a Dragon Statue Trap and a Sidekick (1A/1D) in my Field Zone. I have one Bolt and one Fist energy in my Reserve Pool. My opponent has two Sidekicks (1A/1D) and character die with 2A/3D in their Field Zone. We are moving into their Attack Step.Attack Step – Assign Attackers
~ My opponent assigns their 2A/3D character and one Sidekick as their attackers.
~ My opponent does not have any When Attacks abilities.
~ My Dragon Statue Trap triggers and is sent to the Used Pile.
~ I use the Effect of my trap and spend the Bolt and Fist energy (moving them to my Used Pile), to deal two damage to all of my opponent’s character dice.
~ Their two Sidekick dice are KO’d and placed in their Prep Area. Their 2A/3D character die is still attacking, but now it can only take one more damage before it’s KO’d.Attack Step – Assign Blockers
~ I assign my Sidekick die to block the remaining attacking character die. Doing this will KO the attacker in the Assign and Resolve Damage portion of the Attack Step and my Sidekick will also be KO’d.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Dragon Statue Trap is a Shield type non-basic action card.
~ It does not have an affiliation.
~ It has a Neutral Alignment (leaf symbol near the purchase cost).
~ It has a Max Dice of four.
~ This card is a Common and is #25 of 136.

Opinion

I think the Dragon Statue Trap is incredibly useful against teams that utilize those annoying characters that can’t be targeted. And there are plenty of those pesky characters around in Golden Age and Modern Age. Raven: Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos! is the first one that comes to mind and probably the most used one. Even with her in the field, you can still damage your opponent’s Mask and Teen Titans dice because Dragon Statue Trap’s effect is not targeting them – it’s like a blanket covering their side of the field.

Dragon Statue Trap could also be extremely useful against teams that depend on rushing their opponent with lots of smaller characters, like a Bard Blitz or Guy Rush team. A well placed Dragon Statue Trap and force attack Global and they’re in a world of hurt!

One of the major down sides that I can see to this type of trap is that once it’s triggered, it’s gone until you can get it back through your bag. This leaves you vulnerable and gives your opponent a chance to build up their field if they trigger the trap at the right time. Another issue you could run into is your opponent triggering it when you don’t have any energy to use for the effect. The trap is still triggered when they attack and sent to the Used Pile – regardless if you can activate the effect or not.

Gadgeteer is a nice keyword to pair with Dragon Statue Trap. You could get your traps back much quicker with one of these type of characters. What ever you do, don’t give them Boomerang! That’s not a good idea if you want your traps in the field.

I’ve been looking at building a Trap based team, I just haven’t had the chance to put it together yet. I think it would be fun and interesting for our casual scene.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Jervis Tetch: Malice in Wonderland from the DC Batman set.

Ruling – Ability

Jervis’s ability is a When Attacks ability. His ability will trigger for each of his dice that attack.

When Jervis attacks, you gain control of a target opposing character die with a purchase cost of four or less. That character die is required to attack, if they’re able, on this same turn.

When a Jervis die attacks, you can target any character die with a purchase cost of four or less, which includes basic Sidekick dice. Basic Sidekick dice are considered level one characters with a purchase cost of zero while they are in the Field Zone.

The targeted die is then moved into the Attack Zone with Jervis to show that both of the dice are attacking.

When the control of the die ends at the end of turn or when the controlling die is KO’d, you must return the controlled die to the area you took it from. You can use an ability like the Global on Blink – Transmutation(during the Attack Step) to move a Jervis die back to your Field Zone and the controlled die will still be attacking.

If the controlled die would be placed in your Used Pile or Prep Area, it goes to your opponent’s Prep Area instead.

If you control a die that is the same die of a character on your team, the controlled die will reference your opponent’s character card.

Normally, a controlling die cannot attack but because Jervis is required to attack in order to control a die, he is an exception.

Jervis’s ability is not optional. You must take control of a character die with a purchase cost of four or less when you attack with Jervis (if there is a legal target). That die is also assigned to attack, which is not optional.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Jervis Tetch is a Shield type character card.
~ He has the Villain affiliation.
~ He has a max dice of four.
~ This card is a Rare and is #99 of 124.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario and each example only features relevant parts of the turn, not the entire turn.

Example One:
Attacking with multiple Jervis dice.

Game State~ I have two level two Jervis Tetch (2A/1D) dice in the Field Zone.
~ My opponent has a level three Red Hood: Jason Todd(5A/5D) die and a Sidekick die in the Field Zone.
~ The turn is moving into the Attack Step.(Attack Step – Assign Attackers)
~ I assign both of my Jervis dice to attack, moving both of them into the Attack Zone.
~ Both of their abilities are triggered simultaneously when they attack.
~ The first Jervis die will gain control over my opponent’s Sidekick die, moving it to the Attack Zone on my side.
~ The second Jervis die will gain control over my opponent’s Red Hood die, moving it to the Attack Zone on my side.(Attack Step – Assign Blockers)
~ My opponent does not have any characters to assign as blockers.(Attack Step – Actions and Globals)
~ I choose not to use any Actions or Globals. (This would be the moment that I could use the Global on Blink – Transmutation to push my Jervis back to my Field Zone and not lose control over the controlled dice.)
~ My opponent does not use any Globals.(Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage)
~ Since none of the characters were blocked, they will all deal their attack value in combat damage to my opponent’s life total. Red Hood is going to deal 5, each Jervis will deal 2 each, and the Sidekick will deal 1 – for a total of 10 damage.
~ As soon as the character dice damage my opponent, they move Out of Play.(Clean Up Step)
~ Character dice that were KO’d by combat damage during the Attack Step are now placed in the Prep Area.
~ Characters blocked, but not KO’d are removed from the Attack Zone, but stay in the Field Zone. The Attack Zone is part of the Field Zone, but only attacking and blocking characters can be in the Attack Zone.
~ Dice that are Out of Play will move into the Used Pile.My opponent’s Red Hood and Sidekick die will go to my opponent’s Prep Area instead of the Used Pile.
~ All effects end unless otherwise specified (like a While Active or ‘End of Turn’ ability).
~ All damage is cleared.
~ End of turn abilities will resolve.
~ My turn is now over and my opponent’s turn will begin.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)
I have a pending question with WORF in regards to the Jervis Tetch cards. There are no official rulings at the time this article was written. I will update with red text when I see an official ruling.

Basic Information

Opinion and Strategy

I really don’t like the wording on any of the Jervis cards. And until there is an official ruling, my ruling is how we will be playing it locally. I wanted to wait for the official ruling before doing a CCW on any Jervis, but I’ve been getting several requests and questions about him. This prompted me to sit down and really pour over rulebooks and WORF posts in an effort to decipher how this obscenely confusing card is supposed to work.

If/when WORF gives us a ruling, I will most definitely update this article, or post a corrected article if need be. I’ve never claimed to be an expert and if you have a different way you think he should be handled, I’m totally up for discussion!

As far as the ability, it can devastating, for sure. He can easily remove parts of that wall to allow for some damage to get through, or take all their characters from the field and smack them with them. I would not use Blink or Distraction Globals because that could hinder your overall goal if your opponent uses those Globals to push their stolen characters back so they get them back.

I think this guy has potential in drafts for sure, but because there isn’t a solid ruling from WORF on him, I’m not planning on testing him in Modern Age or Golden Age.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Rip Hunter: Navigate the Sands of Timefrom the DC Batman set.

Ruling – Ability

Rip Hunter’s ability is a While Active ability. A While Active ability is one that works regardless of how many of the character’s dice are in the Field Zone. While Active abilities are like a light – it’s either on, or it’s off.

Rip Hunter’s ability can only be used once during your turn and only during the Clear and Draw Step. Rip Hunter must be active at the start of your turn to be able to use his ability that same turn. To use Rip Hunter’s ability, you draw dice for your Clear and Draw Step, and then you can send any number of those dice to the Used Pile and draw that many dice. You may choose any number of the dice you’ve drawn to go the Used Pile. You do not have to send them all.

The dice that you send to the Used Pile, go directly to the Used Pile and not Out of Play. This is because those dice have not entered the Reserve Pool.

If a card ability would allow you to draw extra dice during the Clear and Draw Step, you can use Rip Hunter’s ability for those dice as well. For example, if you have a Swarm trigger that allowed you to draw an extra die, for a total of five dice, you can send all five dice to the Used Pile and then draw five more dice using Rip Hunter’s ability. If any of those dice have the Swarm keyword and match an active character of the same name, you get to trigger Swarm again.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Rip Hunter is a Shield type character card.
~ He does not have any affiliation.
~ He has a max dice of four.
~ This card is a Common and is #30 of 124.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario and each example only features relevant parts of the turn, not the entire turn.

Example One:
Using Rip Hunter’s ability.

Game State
~ I have two Rip Hunter dice and a Sidekick die active. I have seven Sidekick dice and one Batman die in my bag.
~ It’s the beginning of my turn.(Clear and Draw)~ I don’t have any dice to clear.
~ I draw four Sidekick dice.
~ I use Rip Hunter’s ability, sending three of my Sidekick dice to the Used Pile and I draw three more dice.
~ I draw two Sidekick dice and my Batman die.

Example Two:
Rip Hunter’s ability with Swarm.

Game State~ I have one Multiple Man: Pile On! die, one Goblin: Lesser Humanoid die, and two Sidekick dice active in the Field Zone.
~ I have a Goblin, Multiple Man, and four Sidekick dice in my bag, and two Sidekick dice in my Use Pile.
~ It’s the beginning of my turn.(Clear and Draw)~ I draw four dice: one Multiple Man, one Goblin, two Sidekick dice.
~ I trigger the Swarm ability on Multiple Man and Goblin and draw two more dice: two Sidekicks.
~ I use Rip Hunter’s ability and send Multiple Man and Goblin to the Used Pile.
~ I now draw two more dice, but my bag is empty, so I refill it with the Used Pile (two Sidekicks, Multiple Man, and Goblin). I draw a Goblin and a Sidekick.
~ I trigger Swarm on the Goblin die, drawing one more die – Multiple Man.
~ I trigger Swarm on the Multiple Man die and draw my last die, which is a Sidekick.(Roll and Reroll)
~ I roll all eight dice and proceed with the rest of my turn.

Official Sources

Basic Information

Opinion and Strategy

I will continue to stand by my opinion that the dice moved by Rip Hunter need to go Out of Play. I’ve seen Ultraman abuse this to devastating results, as well as Parademon Swarm Burn. However, I will never rule against anything that’s been officially ruled on by WORF and I completely understand the reasoning behind their ruling. I just think it’s absolutely silly.

That being said, Parademon’s Burning Swarm is a team that Mr. DDK and I have been discussing since before they officially ruled Rip Hunter. I really want to use Darkseid: Force of Entropy with Parademon: Strength in Numbers and a cheap Swarm dude, like Multiple Man: Pile On!, because that’s just too silly. Rip Hunter’s ability can make a team like that more lethal. I’ve already played against someone that’s headed that direction with their team anyway, and the Parademon with Goblin Swarm is bad enough.

Rip Hunter has his benefits outside of breaking things. He’s exceptionally handy in drafts and he makes for a great addition to many teams that are desperately missing their PXG Global. He’s obviously not as good as PXG, but it’s totally better than nothing! I’ve been using the Uncommon Rip Hunter with my New Gods, but I might have to swap him for this version, unless I can speed the team up some other way.

I think that Rip Hunter is a good card in the competitive scene, but he does cost four to purchase. It’s not too much, but it could be too slow to use against some teams. Be sure you’re not adding him to your team as a necessary purchase, because if you’re buying him, you’re not buying your win condition (unless he contributes to that win condition). Your team shouldn’t be relying on him to function. If you’re using the rare Dwarf Wizard, this is probably going to be the character you want to target, unless of course there is a much larger threat at the time. But using DWiz to slow their churn is a really good idea early in the game.

If you’re playing casual, he’s a great addition and I don’t think he should be overlooked. He could help some of those casual teams churn through their dice a little faster to get to the good stuff!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Great Responsibility: Basic Action Card from the Marvel Amazing Spider-Man Starter set. This week’s selection is courtesy of the random button from DM Retrobox.

Ruling – Ability

When you use a Great Responsibility action die, you must also sacrifice a character in order to KO a target opposing character. Sacrificing one of your characters is not optional and the sacrificed character is not being targeted. The opposing character is being targeted, so abilities that redirect or block targeting could be applied.

When you sacrifice a character (or any other die) during your turn, the sacrificed die will go Out of Play until the Clean Up Step. During the Clean Up Step, all dice that are Out of Play will be moved into the Used Pile. When you sacrifice a die during your opponent’s turn, those dice will go directly to the Used Pile.

Great Responsibility can only be used during your turn, but there are several cards with abilities that allow or force you to sacrifice dice during your opponent’s turn. For example, if you have a Blink: Dimension Jumper die in the Field Zone, you could use her ability during your opponent’s turn and she would go to your Used Pile instead of Out of Play. Using Mysterious Shredder Transport would send the opposing die to the Used Pile and the active player’s die Out of Play.

When a character with a When KO’d ability is KO’d by using Great Responsibility, the When KO’d ability will trigger. For example, if Jade: Jennifer-Lynn Hayden is KO’d by Great Responsibility, her owner would get to use her ability allowing them to prep a die from their bag.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Great Responsibility is a Basic Action Card with no energy type.
~ It does not have an affiliation.
~ It has a max dice of three.
~ This card is a Common and is #29 of 142.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario and each example only features relevant parts of the turn, not the entire turn.

Example One:
Using Great Responsibility during the Main Step.

~ I have a Great Responsibility die showing an action face in my Reserve Pool. I have a Sidekick and a level two Vixen die in the Field Zone. My opponent has a Thor die in the Field Zone.
~ (Main Step) I use my Great Responsibility die, sacrificing my Sidekick and targeting Thor. My Sidekick die and Great Responsibility are placed Out of Play. Thor is placed in the Prep Area.

Example Two:Using Great Responsibility during the Attack Step.

~ I have a Great Responsibility die showing an action face in my Reserve Pool. I have a Sidekick and a level two Vixen die in the Field Zone. My opponent has a Thor die in the Field Zone.
~ (Attack Step – Assign Attackers) I assign my Sidekick and Vixen dice to attack, moving them into the Attack Zone.
~ (Attack Step – Assign Blockers) My opponent assigns their Thor die to block my Vixen die, moving it into the Attack Zone and placing it in front of my Vixen die.
~ (Attack Step – Actions and Globals) I use my Great Responsibility die, sacrificing my Sidekick and targeting my opponent’s Thor die. My Sidekick and Great Responsibility are placed Out of Play and Thor is placed in the Prep Area.
~ (Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage) Vixen was blocked, but does not have Overcrush. She will not deal any damage to my opponent, even though her blocker has been removed. She won’t take any damage and will return to the Field Zone.
~ (Clean Up Step) All effects end unless otherwise stated. Dice Out of Play are moved into the Used Pile.

Opinion and Strategy

I’m not a fan of this week’s card selection. There are better ways to achieve the same result – or a more desirable result. A good example is Mysterious Shredder Transport. Transport works a little different, like you don’t get to target an opposing die, but the die they sacrifice is sacrificed – not KO’d. In a constructed field of play, whether competitive or casual, you’re typically trying to KO your opponent and not their characters. Most of the time, players use characters that have a When KO’d ability or ones that can’t be targeted (all the rage now). It’s also cheaper to purchase than Great Responsibility. I feel like Great Responsibility is too expensive for what it does. If I’m paying five energy for a die that I have cycle and then roll, I don’t want to pay an additional cost (like sacrificing a character) just to get one of their dudes out of the Field. If you’re looking at Great Responsibility for Modern Age, please take a closer look at cards like Mysterious Shredder Transport or even Lethal Blow. I think Lethal Blow is underrated – especially since we have Renet Tilley now to almost guarantee that burst or double burst. I don’t expect that combo to be seen in a competitive setting, but Transport could find it’s way there. Reclaim would pair well with Transport and be way more useful than Great Responsibility.

If you’ve played Great Responsibility and you’ve found a use that I’ve overlooked, please share! I enjoy seeing what other folks come up with – whether it’s casual or competitive, I’m open to all suggestions!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at the Turtle Van: Basic Action Card from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles box set. This is in celebration of the release of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Heroes in a Half-Shell box set that’s due out tomorrow!

Ruling – Ability

Turtle Van is a Continuous Basic Action. If a card ability would affect an Action Die, Turtle Van could be chosen for the effect. One such example is Constantine: Antihero.

Continuous is a keyword found on Action cards. When you use the action die, it is placed in the Field Zone and will remain in the Field Zone until the ability is activated or triggered. Activating or triggering the ability is not considered ‘using’ the die. Using the die is when you move it from your Reserve Pool into the Field Zone. It can remain in the Field Zone after your turn.

Turtle Van’s ability says that you can send Turtle Van to your Used Pile and prevent all damage to a target blocking character. This ability targets a single character die when you activate it. You may target one of your character dice or one of your opponent’s character dice. When activated, the target blocking character die will take no damage from the character it’s blocking. It will also be protected from any Globals or abilities that would damage it after the activation of Turtle Van.

There is a specific timing window for when you can activate Turtle Van. You can only activate the ability on a Turtle Van die after blockers have been assigned, during the Actions and Globals portion of the Attack Step. If you’re the active player, you will have priority to use Actions and Globals. If you’re not the active player, you will have to wait until your opponent passes you priority before you can activate Turtle Van. That means your character can still take ability damage before you’re passed priority and able to activate Turtle Van.

When you activate Turtle Van, it will go directly to the Used Pile, as per the card text.

Turtle Van has a special interaction with Overcrush. Overcrush will only work if all of the attacking character die’s blockers have been KO’d or removed by an effect. If the blocker is still present, but the damage to the blocker is prevented by an ability like Turtle Van, Overcrush will not work.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Turtle Van is a Basic Action with no energy type.
~ It does not have an affiliation.
~ It has a max dice of three.
~ This card is a Common and is #58 of 58.

If you purchase the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turltes Box Set, you will have one copy of each card in the entire set, as well as the maximum number of dice for each card.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario and each example only features relevant parts of the turn, not the entire turn.

Example One:
Using Turtle Van on your turn.

~ I have one Turtle Van die and a level three Gorilla Grodd: Force of Mind die in the Field Zone. My opponent has a Sidekick die in the Field Zone.
~ (Attack Step – Assign Attackers) I assign my Gorilla Grodd as an attacker, moving him into the Attack Zone.
~ (Attack Step – Assign Blockers) My opponent assigns their Sidekick to block my Grodd, moving it into the Attack Zone in front of my Grodd die.
~ (Attack Step – Actions and Globals) I activate my Turtle Van, targeting my opponent’s Sidekick die and placing my Turtle Van into the Used Pile. The Sidekick will take no damage for the rest of the turn. I don’t activate/use any other Actions or Globals, and my opponent doesn’t use any Globals.
~ (Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage) My Grodd’s seven damage is assigned to the Sidekick, but the Sidekick will take no damage. The Sidekick assigns its one damage to Grodd, but it’s not enough to KO him.
~ (Clean Up Step) Both character dice are returned to the Field Zone. All effects end and all dice Out of Play are moved to the Used Pile.

~ I have one Turtle Van die and two Sidekick dice in the Field Zone. My opponent has a level three Gorilla Grodd die in the Field Zone. My opponent has one Bolt energy in the Reserve Pool and has Magic Missile: Basic Action Card.
~ (Attack Step – Assign Attackers) My opponent assigns Gorilla Grodd as an attacker, moving him into the Attack Zone.
~ (Attack Step – Assign Blockers) I assign both of my Sidekick dice to block Grodd, moving them into the Attack Zone in front of the Grodd die.
~ (Attack Step – Actions and Globals) My opponent has priority on Actions and Globals, so they use their Bolt energy (moving it Out of Play) to activate the Global on Magic Missile and target one of my blocking Sidekick dice. The Sidekick is KO’d and placed in my Prep Area. My opponent passes priority to me and I activate my Turtle Van, targeting my remaining blocking Sidekick and placing my Turtle Van die in the Used Pile.
~ (Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage) Grodd’s seven damage is assigned to the Sidekick, but the Sidekick will take no damage. The Sidekick assigns its one damage to Grodd, but it’s not enough to KO him.
~ (Clean Up Step) Both character dice are returned to the Field Zone. All effects end and all dice Out of Play are moved to the Used Pile.

Official Sources

Unlimited Competitive Play Rating

Overcrush is not a huge deal in the current meta, but as soon as you don’t bring an answer for it, you’ll face off against a rogue Overcrush team. This action isn’t just good for stopping Overcrush, it’s also handy in preventing your opponent’s blocking character from taking damage and getting some crazy effect to go off or even save one of your own blockers from being KO’d. I could see someone adding this to a team if they’re worried about Overcrush and it’s not a terrible card. But since Overcrush isn’t a major meta thing, I can’t give Turtle Van more than a rogue rating. It’s useful for other things besides stopping Overcrush, but there are also tons of other really good BACs out there that someone may want to use instead.

Turtle Van: Basic Action Card gets a rating of three out of five stars.

Prime Play Rating

Turtle Van has been a huge deal in our local Prime meta. Everyone has an Overcrush team of some kind and Turtle Van is a great tech against it. If other meta scenes even slightly resemble ours, then I could see this particular BAC making it onto lots of teams. It’s also great for stopping double damage that a character may be dealing with against Lady Bullseye’s ability. I really like this card and I’d be surprised if it didn’t make at least Prime rogue status, even with the new versions of Polymorph and Magic Missile coming out tomorrow in the new TMNT Box Set.

Turtle Van: Basic Action Card gets a Prime rating of four out of five stars.

Casual Play Rating

I’ve seen this card in lots of casual matches. It’s not a super confusing ability, but the tricks of how to use it against Overcrush are not as apparent to new players. Learning to use the card in that way is something that comes with experience. The one major thing about this card that confuses players is the Continuous part. Even after some explanation, beginners and less experienced players still have a hard time understanding that action dice do not stay in your Reserve Pool – you can’t use action dice on your opponent’s turn. Newer players confuse using an action die with activating an action die’s ability. That’s really the only thing holding Turtle Van back from a five star casual rating. I still recommend this card to our newer players because it’s a great way to learn how to use action dice and how/when to activate Continuous action dice. Don’t discourage new players from Continuous actions just because they can be difficult to understand at first. If you’re a newer player reading this, I encourage you to add at least one Continuous action to your team and play with it. There are lots of great Continuous actions out there, including Turtle Van!

Turtle Van: Basic Action Card gets a casual play rating of four out of five stars.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment! Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Batcave: Home Sweet Cave from the DC World’s Finest set.

Ruling – Ability

Batcave is a Continuous, Non-Basic Action. If a card ability would affect an Action Die and does not specify Basic Action Die, Batcave could be chosen for the effect. One such example is Constantine: Antihero.

Continuous is a keyword found on Action cards. When you use the action die, it is placed in the Field Zone and will remain in the Field Zone until the ability is activated or triggered. Activating or triggering the ability is not considered ‘using’ the die. Using the die is when you move it from your Reserve Pool into the Field Zone. It can remain in the Field Zone after your turn.

Batcave’s ability says that when one of of your character dice is KO’d, you can place it under your Batcave die instead. This is optional, which means if you forget to place a KO’d character die under Batcave and realize it later in the turn, you can’t back up to place it under Batcave. If a character ability would put the character die somewhere other than your Prep Area, you may still place that die under Batcave. When KO’d abilities on character dice would still happen but if there is a timing conflict, the active player’s abilities would happen first. If the active player controls both abilities, that player chooses the order in which they happen.

During your Main Step, you can move your Batcave die to your Used Pile and take all of your character dice that were under it and return them to the Field Zone. Those dice return to the Field Zone at level one, and they are not considered to be fielded for When Fielded effects. You can only activate Batcave on your turn. You can have multiple Batcave dice active and you can choose which die to place your KO’d character under. You can also activate as many Batcave dice as you have during your Main Step.

If a card ability would remove your Batcave die (sending it Out of Play, to the Used Pile, etc), then your character dice that were under Batcave would go to your Used Pile.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Batcave: Home Sweet Cave is a Shield Action.
~ It does not have an affiliation.
~ It has a max dice of four.
~ This card is a Common and is #37 of 142.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario and each example only features relevant parts of the turn, not the entire turn.

Example One:
Characters KO’d during the Main Step and the Attack Step.

~ I have two Sidekick dice and one level two Zatanna: Actual Magician die in the Field Zone. I also have a Batcave active in the Field Zone and three Wild energy in my Reserve Pool. My opponent has two Sidekick dice in the Field Zone.
~ (Main Step) I spend one Wild energy as a Bolt (moving it Out of Play) and KO my Zatanna die to use Blue-Eyes White Dragon‘s Global. I choose to put Zatanna in the Prep Area and not under Batcave.
~ (Main Step) I spend one Wild as a Mask (moving it Out of Play) to purchase another Zatanna die, placing it in the Used Pile. Blue-Eyes Global allowed me to purchase the die for two less.
~ (Main Step) I pass priority to my opponent and they don’t use any Globals.
~ (Attack Step – Assign Attackers) I assign my two Sidekick dice to attack, moving them into the Attack Zone.
~ (Attack Step – Assign Blockers) My opponent assigns each of their Sidekick dice to block mine, moving them into the Attack Zone and placing each one in front of mine.
~ (Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage) Each Sidekick has one attack and one defense. All Sidekicks will deal one damage and KO each other. I choose to place both of my Sidekick dice under Batcave instead of the Prep Area.
~ (Clean Up Step) All character dice that were KO’d by damage from blocking or by being blocked are now sent to their respective Prep Area, unless otherwise stated. My two Sidekicks will go under my Batcave. All effects clear from active dice (unless otherwise stated). All dice that are Out of Play are moved to the Used Pile.

Example Two:
Activating Batcave.

~ I have a Batcave die in the Field Zone with three Sidekick dice and three Guy Gardner dice under it. It’s currently my Main Step.
~ (Main Step) I choose to activate Batcave. I move my Batcave die directly to the Used Pile, and then all the character dice that were under it are returned to the Field Zone at level one.
~ (Main Step) I now have three level one Guy Gardner dice and three Sidekick dice in my Field Zone.

Official Sources

Unlimited Competitive Play Rating

I can’t think of a team that this would be good for in the current Unlimited meta. With Antihero being such a widely used piece in the meta, I can’t see this card being used much – if at all. The card isn’t bad but it’s not good to use something like Batcave when there is a counter for it being played on numerous teams.

Batcave: Home Sweet Cave gets a rating of zero out of five stars.

Prime Play Rating

From the matches I’ve played in the prime format, I could see someone being able to pull off some fun things with this card. I don’t see it making a top tier list, but I could see it squeaking into the rogue tier somewhere. We don’t have major threats like Antihero to worry about in prime, unless I missed them. If you find some, don’t be shy – leave your findings and ideas in the comments! But even in the slower prime format, I don’t know if this card has a place in the meta. I’m sure someone can find a creative way to build around this card and surprise us all.

Batcave: Home Sweet Cave gets a Prime rating of two out of five stars.

Casual Play Rating

I have played this card a bunch of times in a casual setting, and it’s actually really fun. A team with the Batcave and Guy Gardner is effective and fun to play. But the use of the card and die leaves many folks confused, especially when they don’t know what to do with characters when their Batcave gets removed by another effect. It left me stumped for a while too, until they posted the official ruling. A beginner may have trouble with this card until they have a better understanding of the game, but a more advanced player may find it useful. I have shown this card to newer players and explained how it works. They seemed to understand it well enough and some have even picked it up and played with it. They had additional questions, but with a little explanation, they were able to figure out some strategy and uses for it on their own. I can recommend this card for advanced casual players, and some beginners that have backgrounds in other games.

Batcave: Home Sweet Cave gets a casual play rating of three out of five stars.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment! Is there a card your confused on? Is there a combo that seems too good to be true? Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!